Written by Suzie Shin:
As collective concern for the environment and climate change continues to rise, the need to reduce waste, conserve finite natural resources, and prevent excessive pollution grows alongside it. Existing research has indicated a trend toward environmentalism amongst consumers, where people are more likely to buy a product they perceive as more sustainable. Eco-awareness is on the rise, and we are subsequently seeing changes in the ways companies market their products. However, some studies have found major discrepancies between companies’ eco-friendly claims and those claims’ legitimacy. This practice where companies mislead people by making products and activities seem more sustainable or environmentally sound than they really are has been coined “Greenwashing”, and it can manipulate consumers and their purchasing decisions.
As a course project, I conducted a quantitative study to evaluate how the presence of greenwashed labels impacts consumer perceptions of a product and thus people’s subsequent intent to purchase the product. My team created and distributed a survey where respondents were asked to rate specific attributes – eco-friendliness, trustworthiness, and quality – of four products, three of which included greenwashed labels. Afterwards, they were asked to rate how likely they were to purchase each of the four presented products. Finally, additional questions gauged consumers’ perception and awareness of greenwashing for the four products. After analyzing the data, here is what we found out.
- The control product (with no label) was perceived as the least eco-friendly, trustworthy, and of lower quality. People consistently viewed the control product as inferior to its labeled counterparts across all attributes.
- On average, across the four label conditions, people reported a lesser intention to purchase the non-labeled product compared to its three labeled counterparts. On the other hand, Label 3, which explicitly used the term “Certified Green”, reported the highest mean ‘trustworthiness’ rating and ‘high quality’ rating, and subsequently the greatest intent to purchase.
- When the three labeled products were compared across all of the tested attributes, we saw that higher ratings were consistently given more to label 3 (Certified Green), the second highest to label 1 (No CFCs), and the lowest mean ratings to label 2 (Natural). Mean purchase likelihood ratings followed this same pattern.
- When asked which products seemed “greenwashed,” the fewest participants perceived the product with Label 3 as greenwashed. Interestingly, the control product, with no label, was perceived as more “greenwashed” by the greatest number of individuals.
What do these findings tell us?
- The presence of a greenwashed label does influence consumers’ attitudes toward and inferences regarding products
- Having a greenwashed label is correlated with higher attribute ratings and thus higher reported likelihood of a purchase. There is a positive correlation between the degree to which people view a product as eco-friendly, etc. and the degree people will want to buy the product.
- This consistent trend may reveal that people are more responsive to and manipulated by claims that are informative or seem credible. Whereas terms such as “no CFCs” and “certified” appeal more to consumers’ logic, labels with broad, unsubstantiated claims such as “natural” or “earth-friendly” do not.
- Products that are rated as more eco-friendly, trustworthy, and of higher quality, on average, are perceived as less “greenwashed.” This is a significant finding because it illustrates a negative correlation between consumers’ perceptions of greenwashing and their perceptions of a product’s attributes.